An employee at the Trader Joe's hostage standoff helped his coworkers escape through an emergency ladder out the window

A Trader Joe's employee helped coworkers escape from the store during a hostage situation with a gunman on Saturday.

Sean Gerace found an emergency ladder and helped people evacuate from an upstairs storage area.

Police took the gunman into custody and rescued the hostages. One woman was killed.

Sean Gerace was working at a Los Angeles-area Trader Joe's on Saturday when a gunman entered the supermarket. Gerace quickly leaped into action and helped several coworkers escape.

Gerace told NBC Los Angeles that he was working in the backroom when the gunman entered the Trader Joe's. He said he heard screaming and gunfire then "ran upstairs, grabbed a couple of coworkers, made my way into a back section of the storage area upstairs."

He and his coworkers couldn't safely enter the main area of the store, he told NBC, so they fled to an the upstairs storage area. Gerace said he "grabbed an emergency ladder, barricaded the hallway, grabbed a weapon, [and] put the ladder out the window."

Once the ladder was hanging out the window, Gerace said he tried to get the attention of a SWAT officer. "Once I got his attention," he said, "I indicated I wanted to go down the ladder, and he gave me a thumbs up."

TOPSHOT - Police officers escort people after a suspect barricaded inside a Trader Joe's supermarket in Silverlake, Los Angeles, on July 21, 2018. - A suspect wanted in connection with a shooting was barricaded inside a supermarket in the US city of Los Angeles on Saturday, police said, in what US media reported was a possible hostage situation. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, addresses the press after a suspect barricaded inside a Trader Joe's supermarket in Silverlake, Los Angeles, on July 21, 2018. - A suspect wanted in connection with a shooting was barricaded inside a supermarket in the US city of Los Angeles on Saturday, police said, in what US media reported was a possible hostage situation. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, looks on before addressing the press after a suspect barricaded inside a Trader Joe's supermarket in Silverlake, Los Angeles, on July 21, 2018. - A suspect wanted in connection with a shooting was barricaded inside a supermarket in the US city of Los Angeles on Saturday, police said, in what US media reported was a possible hostage situation. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Police officers and members of the Los Angeles Fire Department escort a boy on a stretcher after a suspect barricaded inside a Trader Joe's supermarket in Silverlake, Los Angeles, on July 21, 2018. - A suspect wanted in connection with a shooting was barricaded inside a supermarket in the US city of Los Angeles on Saturday, police said, in what US media reported was a possible hostage situation. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

A TraderJoe's employee is comforted after a suspect barricaded inside the supermarket in Silverlake, Los Angeles, on July 21, 2018. - A suspect wanted in connection with a shooting was barricaded inside a supermarket in the US city of Los Angeles on Saturday, police said, in what US media reported was a possible hostage situation. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

A TraderJoe's employee is comforted after a suspect barricaded inside the supermarket in Silverlake, Los Angeles, on July 21, 2018. - A suspect wanted in connection with a shooting was barricaded inside a supermarket in the US city of Los Angeles on Saturday, police said, in what US media reported was a possible hostage situation. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

A TraderJoe's employee is comforted after a suspect barricaded inside the supermarket in Silverlake, Los Angeles, on July 21, 2018. - A suspect was barricaded inside a supermarket in the US city of Los Angeles on Saturday, police said, in what US media reported was a possible hostage situation. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

A TraderJoe's employee is comforted after a suspect barricaded inside the supermarket in Silverlake, Los Angeles, on July 21, 2018. - A suspect was barricaded inside a supermarket in the US city of Los Angeles on Saturday, police said, in what US media reported was a possible hostage situation. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

A TraderJoe's employee is comforted after a suspect barricaded inside the supermarket in Silverlake, Los Angeles, on July 21, 2018. - A suspect was barricaded inside a supermarket in the US city of Los Angeles on Saturday, police said, in what US media reported was a possible hostage situation. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

A TraderJoe's employee is comforted after a suspect barricaded inside the supermarket in Silverlake, Los Angeles, on July 21, 2018. - A suspect was barricaded inside a supermarket in the US city of Los Angeles on Saturday, police said, in what US media reported was a possible hostage situation. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)